2 (formerly 3) grown ups sharing a kitchen in inner city Melbourne. Both determined to eat very well for under $10/meal each. A place to share recipes, stories and cooking tips and, of course, to convert "meal in a box" believers and takeout food regulars

Monday, January 30, 2012

Apart from asam laksa and char kway teow, Hokkien prawn noodles or simply known as hokkien mee in Penang is a must try dish for tourists visiting the island. This culinary treasure brought to Malaysia by Hokkien migrants a century ago can now be found all over Malaysia.

My plan was to make some Ipoh hor fun (a dish derived from prawn noodles according to renowned food historian Lin Jin Cheng (林金城)- click here to read the article); but decided against a trip to Victoria Street just to get the rice noodles, using what I had in my pantry seemed like a much better idea on a very hot afternoon.

Traditionally pork ribs are used but I used chicken instead to better promote this delicious dish to my Muslim readers. The broth is the soul of the dish so do be patient and wait for the rewarding result.

P.S the next MMM roundup will be up next Monday, remember to send in all your entries to my friend Sharon from Test With Skewer at its.sharon@gmail.com

for the broth;
3l of water
4 chicken wings
1 head of garlic, bashed
3 slices of ginger
1 tsp of peppercorns
4 tbs of cooking oil
reserved prawn shells
salt to taste

Bring 3l of water to a simmer then add in the chicken wings, garlic, ginger and peppercorns. Bring it to a boil then cover and reduce to a simmer and cook for an hour.

Discharge the solids from the pot and bring the stock back to a boil. Add prawns and cook for until just done (~ 1.5 minutes). Remove and allow to cool before peeling the prawns leaving the tails intact.

Fry prawn shells with 4 tbs of cooking oil in a separate pan for 5 to 8 minutes, using a potato masher to press down the prawn heads to release all the goodness. Add the content of the pan to the pot with the stock and simmer for 30 minutes, remove the solids and season well with salt.

Bring the broth to a boil then add in the chicken breast, turn off the heat after a minute, put the lid on and let the chicken poach in the hot broth for 18 minutes, remove and allow to cool.

Shred chicken into neat slivers. halve prawns lengthwise and have the rest of the ingredients ready.

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil, cook both noodles to your liking and lightly blanch the kangkong and bean sprouts.

Top with prawns and chicken and ladle some of the hot broth over garnish with fried shallots and chopped spring onions and serve with some cut chillies with soy on the side.

My friend Sharon from Test With Skewer is hosting the first event of the year, please send all your entries to its.sharon@gmail.com

To find out more about the event and on how to enter, please click HERE.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

I had the grand plan to compose and post something on Thursday but it was a public holiday and I ended up spending the day eating and drinking with tummy instead.

Nothing groundbreaking but just another idea on what one can do with the humble mince and if you are a fan of black bean sauce, you are going to love this. Some green peppers were added to add colour and to save me from having to cook another vegetable dish.

To prepare the sauce - mash black beans with the back of a spoon then add in garlic, ginger and the rest of the ingredients.

For the patties - place mince, water chestnuts, spring onion, seasonings, beaten egg and corn flour in a large bowl and mix well. Form mixture into 20 balls the size of ping pong and lightly coat them with a little corn flour.

Shallow fry meat patties in batches until golden and cooked through. Drain well and set aside.

Saute sliced onion with a little oil for 30 seconds then add in the sauce mixture. Cook for a minute before adding the stock.

Add the meat patties and green pepper and mix well. Simmer for 5 minutes before thickening the sauce with a little corn flour solution.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

It is the second day of Chinese/lunar new year and I can't help but feel a little melancholy with photos of endless banquets and gatherings received from family and friends choking up my inbox..... well it is business as usual here and I just had a sandwich for lunch.

Since many of you might have made soy poached chicken for the reunion dinner and is left with a pot of master stock, how about another one of my recipes to reuse the stock again?

If you are a non-beef eater, pork spareribs will work equally well just reduce the cooking time accordingly.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Hot days exceeding 30C are back after a brief hiatus and now is the time to share with you this refreshing and very delicious cold dish using the rest of the poached chicken from our Hainanese chicken rice meal.

It is very similar to bang bang chicken that I posted a while back but with the addition of mung bean sheet (粉皮, fen pi), a popular summer threat in China. Mung bean sheet can be found easily these days, if not feel free to use mung bean noodles (粉絲, fen si) instead.

This is an orgasm of flavours and textures on the same plate; the soft silky fen pi, tender chicken slivers, crisp cucumber ribbons all smothered with the sweet, sour, spicy and nutty sauce, to top with that the toasted sesame seeds and peanuts that add the wonderful smokey crunch.... I Hope I am not sounding too much like Nigella Lawson here!

P.S simply omit the chili oil for a more child - friendly dish.

serves 4 as part of a Chinese mealyou'll need;
1/2 a poached chicken or 3 medium size poached chicken breasts*, shredded
3/4 of a continental cucumber, peeled into thin ribbons using a vegetable peeler
2 mung bean sheets (粉皮), soaked in hot water to soften, refreshed and drained well
3 spring onions, chopped
1 red chili, cut into thin rings
2 tbs of sesame seeds, toasted
3 tbs of toasted crushed peanuts (optional)
* to poach the chicken breasts - bring 1.5 l of water to a boil, add in a spring onion, 2 slices of ginger, a dash of Chinese cooking oil and season well with salt and pepper. Add chicken breasts to the pot, turn off the heat after a minute, cover and let chicken steep for 20 minutes. Remove chicken from the pot and allow to cool before shredding.

for the dressing;

1.5 tbs of white sugar

1.5 tbs of light soy

1.5 tbs of Chingkiang vinegar (鎮江香醋) or Chinese black vinegar (黑醋)

6 tbs of smooth Chinese sesame paste (芝麻醬)

2 tsp of Sichuan pepper (川椒), toasted and ground

1.5 tbs of sesame oil

3 tbs of chilli oil with sediment (辣椒油) (optional)

Mung bean sheet at its raw state.

Break mung bean sheets into large shards and soak in hot water for 30 minutes. Refresh and drain well.

Peel cucumber into think ribbons using a vegetable peeler and set aside.

Skin and bone the chicken and shred into neat slivers.

Prepare the sauce by mixing all sauce ingredients in a bowl.

Layer cucumber, mung bean sheet and chicken on a large platter, drizzle the sauce over and top with spring onions, chili rings, toasted sesame seeds and peanuts.

Mix well and enjoy! Serve this as part of a Chinese meal or a snack with a few cold beers on a hot summer afternoon.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Based on a classic Hainanese dish named wenchang chicken (文昌雞, wen chang ji); Hainanese chicken rice or simply known as chicken rice was brought to Southeast Asia by Hainanese migrants seeking a better life at the turn of the 20th century and it is now a popular everyday dish in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand (check out my post on the Thai version - khao mun gai).

As a child I preferred the roast chicken version as I didn't quite understand the appeal of the not overly attractive pale poached bird. It may not be the most seductive looking dish on the block (sadly study in beige is not a good look for anyone of us or the food we serve) but what it lacks in the look department is fully compensated by its taste and aroma - fortunately I did find that out later on in my life.

To me this is a truly sophisticated dish that utilized every part of the humble chicken. No fancy kitchen gadgets or hard to get ingredients are needed to reproduce this classic dish at home. Get the best chicken you can afford and follow a few golden rules and you will be making the best chicken rice time and time again.

P.S Hainan Island (海南島) is a subtropical island in southern China. Today this once sleepy backwater is better know as Hawaii of China with its luxury hotels and million dollar properties.

Remove excess fat from the chicken and cut into cubes, rub salt all over the chicken and stuff its cavity with ginger, spring onions and garlic.

Place chicken in a pot together with the rest of the aromatic, cooking wine and seasonings. Pour enough water to fully submerge the bird. Method 1 - Bring it to a boil then turn it down to simmer for 10 minutes before turning off the heat, cover and let the chicken steep in the hot stock for 2.5 hours. Do not attempt to open the lid before the time is up. Method 2 - Bring it to a boil for 2 minutes, reduce the heat to a bare simmer, cover and cook for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not attempt to open the lid throughout the cooking time.

*Reserve the stock and check for seasonings, you will need this for the rice, ginger sauce and the broth.

While the chicken is poaching, prepare the chili sauce by mixing all ingredients in a blender. For the ginger sauce, blend ginger with in a blender then add in the rest of the ingredients. Check for seasoning for both the sauces.

When the time is up remove chicken and rub some oil all over the chicken, place the chicken in the fridge until needed. If chicken is cooked using method 2, immerse chicken in a basin of iced water for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove and rub with oil.

To prepare the chicken rice - place the reserved chicken skin and fat in a pot and slowly render out the fat.

Remove the solids and add the drained rice to the fat. Fry rice in the fat for a minute or two, making sure all the grains are well coated with the fragrant fat. Some cooks may add a little butter or margarine to make it even richer both in taste and colour.

Transfer rice to a rice cooker, add stock, a pinch of salt and the knotted pandan leaves to the pot. Cook as you would with normal rice.

Remove bones and cut the tender and juicy chicken into manageable slices.

Place chicken on top of some blanched lettuce, drizzle with some garlic oil and light soy, some spring onion and cucumber slices. Serve with the fragrant chicken rice, sauces and a bowl of chicken broth.

Or one may serve the dish ala hawker style - simply place the chopped chicken on top of some of the fragrant chicken rice and serve with the sauces and a bowl of chicken broth.

My friend Sharon from Test With Skewer is hosting the first event of the year, please send all your entries to its.sharon@gmail.com

To find out more about the event and on how to enter, please click HERE.